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> If I were Sam A. instead of (or in addition to) funding UBI, I would fund R&D projects which enable people to live as off grid and self-sufficiently as possib

by Suncho 9y ago

> If I were Sam A. instead of (or in addition to) funding UBI, I would fund R&D projects which enable people to live as off grid and self-sufficiently as possible with all the comforts of urban/suburban living without all the costs. This would be a mistake. Self-sufficiency is very inefficient. By pooling our resources, we can live much more sustainably and prosperously. If everybody in the world tried to live like the Amish, we'd destroy the planet in no time. That lifestyle was only sustainable when there were far fewer humans.

contingencies 9y ago
Self-sufficiency is very inefficient. By pooling our resources, we can live much more sustainably and prosperously. Let's draw a parallel to cloud computing versus standalone computing, for the sake of familiarity. While you sure can get reliable and scalable storage services for less money from a fat cloud provider, they're not equivalent to personally owned storage. For example access times and performance differ, mutually shared human language and the communications infrastructure become critical. Let's draw a parallel to a windmill for flour production or a castle for military defence within a small community. What you wind up with is a de-facto political hierarchy emerging from centralization with its own dangers and overheads. In summary perhaps nature has shown us that population-wide specialization is inefficient in the long term, and we should encourage diversity to survive black swan events... there is a middle ground between total self-sufficiency and totally shared infrastructure. The important thing is that we preserve a mix of approaches.
- jpao79 9y ago
  Great analogy. To take it further, what happens if/when Amazon and Google are the only providers of any sort of cloud computing technology because all of the independent computing providers are defunct and no one knows how to make servers/disk drivers/SSDs except those two companies. Will they benevolently keep the price of computing storage low? How about once Jeff Bezos and Larry Page are no longer founders? Then apply that thinking to Monsanto, Tyson, Archer Daniels and their pricing power on food staples.
jpao79 9y ago
I think the main thoughts/focus areas are: 1.) Remove the pricing power on the primary drivers of inflation (urban land, oil&gas, electricity, non-staple food crops, education, unnecessary luxury novelties) so that people are not indebt 2.) When everything in life is automated/delivered via Amazon drone, people especially those living in a rural areas and/or those not technically inclined for remote SW work) a low cost, sustainable reason to get going in the morning. To me, urban farming fits the bill. If done right, after a small startup cost/environmental impact, the long term steady state inputs and outputs are biodegradable. If you are busy with your tomatoes then you are less likely to channel your energy to less productive pursuits (mindless consumerism, illegal activities, discontentment) 3.) Always on fiber optic video conferencing in public spaces in rural townsquares so that there's less fear of missing out on urban/suburban life.
- WalterBright 9y ago
  The driver of inflation is the government printing money in excess of the wealth in the economy. The dollar is subject to the forces of supply & demand just like everything else.
carapace 9y ago
> By pooling our resources, we can live much more sustainably and prosperously. This is a very good point, and the basis of a lot of Bucky Fuller's work. He phrased it as being the most efficient when working for the good of the most people, and so accordingly all his design had global context. At one point he designed cities with domes over them!
sliverstorm 9y ago
Self-sufficiency is inefficient, but specialization has enabled greater and greater consumption rather than reduced impact. If everybody lived like the Amish we might need to farm more land, but for example there wouldn't be much in the way of fossil fuel exploitation or mineral extraction.

by Suncho 9y ago

contingencies 9y ago

Self-sufficiency is very inefficient. By pooling our resources, we can live much more sustainably and prosperously. Let's draw a parallel to cloud computing versus standalone computing, for the sake of familiarity. While you sure can get reliable and scalable storage services for less money from a fat cloud provider, they're not equivalent to personally owned storage. For example access times and performance differ, mutually shared human language and the communications infrastructure become critical. Let's draw a parallel to a windmill for flour production or a castle for military defence within a small community. What you wind up with is a de-facto political hierarchy emerging from centralization with its own dangers and overheads. In summary perhaps nature has shown us that population-wide specialization is inefficient in the long term, and we should encourage diversity to survive black swan events... there is a middle ground between total self-sufficiency and totally shared infrastructure. The important thing is that we preserve a mix of approaches.

jpao79 9y ago
Great analogy. To take it further, what happens if/when Amazon and Google are the only providers of any sort of cloud computing technology because all of the independent computing providers are defunct and no one knows how to make servers/disk drivers/SSDs except those two companies. Will they benevolently keep the price of computing storage low? How about once Jeff Bezos and Larry Page are no longer founders? Then apply that thinking to Monsanto, Tyson, Archer Daniels and their pricing power on food staples.

jpao79 9y ago

I think the main thoughts/focus areas are: 1.) Remove the pricing power on the primary drivers of inflation (urban land, oil&gas, electricity, non-staple food crops, education, unnecessary luxury novelties) so that people are not indebt 2.) When everything in life is automated/delivered via Amazon drone, people especially those living in a rural areas and/or those not technically inclined for remote SW work) a low cost, sustainable reason to get going in the morning. To me, urban farming fits the bill. If done right, after a small startup cost/environmental impact, the long term steady state inputs and outputs are biodegradable. If you are busy with your tomatoes then you are less likely to channel your energy to less productive pursuits (mindless consumerism, illegal activities, discontentment) 3.) Always on fiber optic video conferencing in public spaces in rural townsquares so that there's less fear of missing out on urban/suburban life.

WalterBright 9y ago
The driver of inflation is the government printing money in excess of the wealth in the economy. The dollar is subject to the forces of supply & demand just like everything else.

carapace 9y ago

> By pooling our resources, we can live much more sustainably and prosperously. This is a very good point, and the basis of a lot of Bucky Fuller's work. He phrased it as being the most efficient when working for the good of the most people, and so accordingly all his design had global context. At one point he designed cities with domes over them!

sliverstorm 9y ago

Self-sufficiency is inefficient, but specialization has enabled greater and greater consumption rather than reduced impact. If everybody lived like the Amish we might need to farm more land, but for example there wouldn't be much in the way of fossil fuel exploitation or mineral extraction.